Uzi-wielding Attacker Gets 82-year Sentence

A reputed narcotics dealer, aiming to settle a drug debt, opened fire with an Uzi on an early Saturday morning just as several bars about a block from Wrigley Field emptied of patrons.

Lathierial Boyd gravely wounded his intended target, a man who owed him $1,000 for cocaine. He also killed the man`s cousin and wounded three patrons leaving the bars Feb. 24, according to Assistant State`s Atty. Lori Levin.

On Monday, Boyd, 24, was sentenced to 82 years in prison for murder and attempted murder by Cook County Criminal Court Judge Shelvin Singer.

``The objective of this sentence is not rehabilitation,`` Singer told an emotionless Boyd. ``The objective of this sentence is to keep the defendant off the streets until he is a very old man.``

As many as 100 people were in the vicinity of the 3500 block of North Clark Street when Boyd opened fire shortly after 2 a.m., Levin said.

Singer sentenced Boyd to 55 years for the murder of Michael Fleming, 18, and a consecutive 27-year prison term for the attempted murder of Ricky Warner, Fleming`s cousin.

He won`t be eligible for parole for 41 years.

Warner, testifying from a bed in Oak Forest Hospital during Boyd`s trial, identified Boyd as the man who sprayed Clark Street with gunfire. He knew Boyd by the nicknames ``Rat`` and ``Godfather`` and said Boyd had threatened his family several months earlier if he didn`t repay a $1,000 drug debt.

Warner was shot once in the neck and left permanently paralyzed from the neck down, said Levin, who prosecuted the case with Assistant State`s Atty. James Bailey II.

He breathes with the help of a respirator and, during the unusual court session in the hospital, had to stop his testimony several times to regain his strength, Levin said. When he cried, a nurse had to wipe the tears away.

A prosecutor held a portable microphone close to Warner`s mouth so the judge could hear the victim`s testimony.